Cool! Sarah from The Delicious Life announced round #21 of my favorite food blog event just a few weeks back – and before you know it, it’s Sugar High Friday again! Originally invented by Jennifer, the Domestic Goddess herself, it’s always a more than welcome excuse occasion to indulge your sweet tooth.

This round’s theme couldn’t have been chosen more appropriately considering the current temperatures, one-hit-wonder Vanilla Ice’sIce Ice Baby from 1990 gains new fame these days.

One of my favorite store-bought ice creams has to be Cookies & Cream from Häagen-Dazs (well, next to Macadamia Nut Brittle, Coconut Macaroon, Strawberry Cheesecake and many more), so I tracked down some Oreo cookies (Hertie at the main station sells them) and attempted to reproduce it. Despite the fact, that the final result almost instantly surrendered to our kitchen temperatures and wouldn’t for the life of it permit proper shooting, it tasted quite like the real thing. Well, maybe with a small deduction in score for creaminess – compared to the bought product, but that may have to do with our old and lame ice cream maker (can you tell I’m already keeping my eyes open)… The best part about doing it yourself, however, is that one gets to decide how much of the cookie crumbles to throw in!

Cook heavy cream, milk and the vanilla bean (shell & scraped out seeds) in a pot and bring to a boil, let simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the stove and allow to infuse and cool down for about 10 minutes, then remove vanilla bean.

Blend egg yolks and sugar with your kitchen machine for some minutes until the mix becomes pale and thick. Add the warm (not hot) cream mixture to the eggs and blend slowly, but thoroughly. Return the mix to the pot and stir over low heat for 5-10 minutes (do not let boil!), until custard coats the back of a wooden spoon, then remove from heat.

Chill until the mixture has completely cooled down and let your ice cream maker complete the last step. Just before turning off the machine, crumble the Oreo cookies (without their filling) between your fingers – the chunks should be neither be too small nor too large – and add them to the machine. Don’t over blend, otherwise the color of the ice cream will turn into a grayish hue (due to the tiny cookie crumbs…).

Sarah also suggested to make ice cream sandwiches, which sounded just as nice: A pint of coconut macaroon ice cream and some old-fashioned Afrika cookies from Bahlsen did the trick, a messy undertaking though… Yummy? Absolutely!

C&C is the best! I don't own an ice-cream maker, but maybe I should think about purchasing one? Last weeks temperatures made my ice-cream consumption go through the roof. And your pictures make me crave some more!

I had the same creaminess problem during the time I had borrowed the icecream machine of a friend. Just this past week I read somewhere on the internet the secret to creamy (industrial) icecream: I just can't remember what it was! Some kind of emulsifier, I can only recollect that upon reading it I just thought "yuck!" (something to do with sea and animals?!?) and quickly surfed further... Cannot find it anymore....

Rita

Jul 29th, 2006

what a great idea! my favorite ice cream is every ice cream containing chunks of sweets, cookies or dough, so it doesn't become boring to eat it. ever tried mars or bounty? amazing in taste (and calories)!

Oh my god your photos are so gorgeous !
I love the little blue cup in which the lovely ice lies in ...
I do agree with you too : making your own makes you the one and only master for the cookie-crumbs ratio !!
Delightful !
By the way, do you think it is possible to make it without the ice cream machine ?

Hi Jitta, If you do think about getting an ice cream maker, don't make the same mistake we made a few years back and get a cheap one - a few more bucks spent on a decent machine is well invested.

Rita, No I have yet to try those - but have no doubts about it being delicious just as much :)

TBD, Great find, thanks for the link! Will do some more research on it, the disclaimer "might induce gastro-intestinal discomfort" is a bit unsettling.

Thalie, With plenty of time at hand and exponential effort (in relation to creaminess) generally I'd say yes. Practically I would think it is too much work (you'd have stir and make it smooth every so often) and the result would probably not justify the effort. Sometimes we make sorbet manually, but that's an easier task...

Wow, that beautiful, creamy scoop in the glass bowl looks truly delicious. Oreo has always been a once in a while flavor for me but it's been a while and that "once in a while" may just have to happen this weekend. Thanks!

Very, very brave indeed, taking on the "Cookies & Cream" challenge, but I must admit the ice-cream looks magnificent! Will have to try it out this weekend in my brand new ice-cream maker. Was difficult finding one this summer here in Germany, but definitely worth the effort.
Your website is absolutely beautiful and I always a joy to read. Thanks!

OMG! I have been preparing to make these for weeks! I have bought the oreos already and was looking around in cookbooks for a good vanilla ice cream but haven't found any that i quite fancy to make. I have the vanilla pods ready too :)

Thank you for the recipe.

My fav is cookies and cream from Haagen Daz too :) - oh, and i'll be putting lots and lots of oreos on mine, just you wait and see...